Obamacare’s 2015 enrollment pushed to after the 2014 elections

Matt K. Lewis

Matt K. Lewis is a senior contributor to The Daily Caller, and a contributing editor for The Week. He is a respected commentator on politics and cultural issues, and has been cited by major publications such as The Washington Post and The New York Times. Matt is from Myersville, MD and currently resides in Alexandria, VA. Follow Matt K. Lewis on Twitter <a>@mattklewis</a>.

From Bloomberg: “The second-year start of Obamacare enrollment will be pushed back by one month to give health insurers more time to prepare new plans and rates, an official with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said.”

“That enrollment period, previously scheduled to begin Oct. 15, 2014, will now start Nov. 15, said the official who asked not to be identified because the decision isn’t public. The change is important to insurers that need more time to evaluate the first year of the government-run marketplaces, set up last month as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”

… I’m not an insurance expert, but the cynic in me thinks moving the enrollment date from October 15, 2014 to November 15, 2014 seems a bit cute. I mean, doesn’t the timing seem interesting? The government’s expert says this “gives the state and federal governments more time to sort out technical issues with the exchanges.” But I have to wonder: Did they move the 2015 open enrollment to hide the premium hikes until after the election?